Schools
[VIDEO] Port Chester School Budget Hearing: Public Opposes Cuts To Reading Teachers
The public will vote on the proposed budget from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. on May 15 at the middle school gym
Schools all over the country are navigating through the choppy financial waters of setting up their budgets for the upcoming year. School Boards are caught in a web of rising taxes, spending cuts, and staffing challenges — all while trying to keep parents happy and the children’s best interests first.
: 30.5 positions will be cut going into the 2012-2013 school year, 14.5 from non-instructional support staff, 15 from teachers and teacher assistants and 1 administrative position in the district's proposed budget.
Such was the topic of discussion for all of those who spoke out at the public hearing on the proposed budget Thursday evening. Of particular focus was the proposed cuts to the district's reading support program.
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“I’ve been a reading teacher here at John F. Kennedy for 10 years,” said Nancy Capparelli. “We’ve had such a good balance over the years of seasoned teachers and new teachers which created the perfect drive. The school has changed so much over the time I’ve been here. After a lot of hard work we became a Blue Ribbon School and I am very proud to have been a part of that.”
“This is definitely a bittersweet moment for us,” said School Board President . “We recognize all the positive moments throughout the years and we also feel the loss. We know that we can overcome challenges and we will move forward by working together.”
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This poem was written by and read aloud by Mary Ellen Onforio, former science instructor at John F Kennedy Magnet School.
“The people of Port Chester should be filled with dread, by a decision that was made by the Board of Ed/ They declare that the schools of which they are proud, will no longer employ reading teachers, they are just not allowed/ We need to spend less, we know that is true, and like all problems “what do you do?”/ you take a little from there and a little from here, but don’t toss a program into thin air/there are children at stake who can’t do without, the extra help they received, of that there’s no doubt/ you struggle each day to keep up with your peers, as your future looms and graduation nears/ we want to be known for the leaders we create and we need to do it before it’s too late/ we need to rethink and get a new start, so we have students that are set apart/ so as a village, don’t let the kids down, we owe them this much, they live in our town/ so lets get together and think more precisesly, and work this thing out much more nicely”
Francis Payne, JFK PTA president, presented the reading teachers with certificates of appreciation.
The public will vote on the proposed budget from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. on May 15 at the middle school gym. Schools Superintendent Edward A. Kliszus is urging the public to vote in favor of the budget plan, despite its cuts.
He warns that the district would face even more cuts, perhaps as much as $1.4 million, if the budget is defeated. The plan originally called for ending full-day kindergarten, but the district has been able to keep the program — avoiding a switch to half-day kindergarten.
The reading support programs cut by the budget are among efforts in the district that are not mandated by the state.
The proposed $81.3 million budget increases spending by $1.7 million, a 2.22 percent increase. The district's tax levy would rise 2.7 percent.
A lobbying effort by the district and Port Chester parents is credited with helping the district in than it expected, but the impact of that additional money on the planned cuts is still uncertain.
